MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar dismisses Washington Post's report on Apple hack warnings

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday, 28 December refuted a report by a US daily, which claimed Indian authorities had demanded that technology major Apple help in softening the political impact of hack warnings issued in October.

The Minister of State for IT and Electronics described the report as "half facts, fully embellished", and "creative imagination" and pointed out that it left out Apple's own response on 31 October, the day when threat notifications were issued to users.

"Rebutting Washington Post's terrible storytelling is tiresome, but someone has to do it...This story is half facts, fully embellished," the minister said in a post on X.

He said Apple was asked to join the enquiry with Cert-In and meetings have been held, and enquiry is ongoing.

"Ministry of Electronics & IT & my response to this incident has been consistent and clear from the incident - That it is for Apple to explain if their devices are vulnerable and what triggered these notifications," the minister said.

Washington Post in a report claimed that Apple's threat notifications in October to Indian opposition politicians warning that government hackers may have hacked their mobile phones had prompted the Indian administration to demand that the US tech giant soften its message.

Apple's India representatives were called by administration officials who asked the company to help 'soften' the political impact of the warnings, the daily had claimed, citing sources.

It may be recalled that several opposition leaders claimed they received an alert from Apple warning them of "state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise" their iPhones and alleged hacking by the government.